From Facing History teacher Julie Mann, who is screening the full-length documentary Not In Our Town: Light in the Darkness with her students at Newcomers High School in Queens, NY.
There are two documents. The first begins discussion using several short clips available on NIOT.org: the Light in the Darkness trailer, Joselo's Journey Part 1, Raising the Curtain on Unity and Embracing Differences, all of which can be found here.

The video, "Lancaster, California: A City United to End School Bullying," profiles students, educators and community members working to create change after two teen suicides, resulting from bullying, devastate two nearby towns. In the aftermath, a local middle school counselor initiates an anti-bullying program throughout the district and students take the lead in standing up to bullying and intolerance in their schools and community.

Palo Alto High School student Kevin Ward challenges the stereotype of African-Americans as "gangsters," and says that "smart is the new gangster." The 16-year-old is working to bridge the achievement gap for students of color, through the school's Unity Club and a program called Bridge, connecting students from affluent Palo Alto and East Palo Alto, a neighboring low-income community.
This lesson addresses the following SEL strategies. You can have students look for these issues and examine them in themselves.

Find previews and information about Class Actions at niot.org/ClassActions
Written by: Julie Mann, Newcomers High School teacher, and Joe Lobozzo, Lakewood High School teacher
I. Role-playing:
Put students into groups of 3. Give out the role-play scenarios. Explain to your students that they will be acting out these scenes. It is their job to create a positive ending, one in which the bullying is prevented. Have each group perform the scenario and have the class analyze the scene to see what positive solution they created. Write down all the positive solutions on a poster as possible antidotes to bullying.

Find previews and information about Class Actions at niot.org/ClassActions
Written by: Julie Mann, Newcomers High School teacher, and Joe Lobozzo, Lakewood High School teacher
Vocabulary:
Hate crime
Anti-semitism
Hanukah
Menorah
Rabbi
Questions:
How does one hate crime affect an entire community?
What strategies did Bloomington United use to fight against the hate crime?
When the rabbi was given a ball at the school basketball game, what message did that send to hate groups?
What can we learn from Bloomington United?
What risks do people in this part of the film take by acting? Why is it worth it for them to take those risks?

Find previews and information about Class Actions at niot.org/ClassActions
Written by: Julie Mann, Newcomers High School teacher, and Joe Lobozzo, Lakewood High School teacher
Vocabulary:
KKK
Confederacy
Segregation
African-American
Dixie
Questions:
How would you feel as a student of color at Ole Miss while students chant “The South Will Rise Again”?
How do you feel about the student group who met to fight against the discriminatory chanting?
How do you feel about the chancellor’s decision to stop the discriminatory chant at the football games?
Here are the words of the University of Mississippi Creed. What does it mean to you?

Find previews and information about Class Actions at niot.org/ClassActions
Written by: Julie Mann, Newcomers High School teacher, and Joe Lobozzo, Lakewood High School teacher
Journal 1: Your friend is in an empty hallway (no teachers) being verbally attacked by some older, tougher students because of his different style of dress. What would you do? How would you feel? Why? (Pair/share when finished)

Facing History and Ourselves combats racism, antisemitism, and religious prejudice by using history to teach tolerance in classrooms around the globe.
This lesson idea is part of a collection of resources Facing History and Ourselves has developed to support classroom use of Not in Our School materials. Other resources in this collection include:

Facing History and Ourselves combats racism, antisemitism, and religious prejudice by using history to teach tolerance in classrooms around the globe.
Many teenagers feel like they have little influence on the world around them. Yet, throughout history, young people have also played an important role in their communities and in social change movements. For example, high school students were a driving force behind the U.S. civil rights movement and the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa.